Explanations
by Missah J
Summary: "You owe us an explanation," was the first thing that Thornton's three children said to him when they walked back into his life.
1. Chapter 1

Explanations

by: Missah J

"It's a long story," was the first thing that Thornton said to his three children. All three of them looked between each other, and back at their father. "It's a long story, and I'm not sure the three of you would understand."

All three of them were now sixteen years old, and Thornton should have known better than to have allowed them to come into Wolff Manor. Melanie, Ari and Theodore—he hadn't seen Melanie or Ari properly for years, but he knew why they had suddenly decided to all come knocking on his front door.

They wanted an explanation.

They wanted to know why their mother's had been receiving sizable checks in the mail each month, and they wanted to know why their father had decided to never be in their lives. They wanted answers.

"We have time to listen," Ari said suddenly, as Melanie and Theodore nodded in agreement.

Thornton rubbed his temples, and sat down in a chair opposite his three children. "It may take a while."

"We're just asking for an explanation," Melanie chimed in. "We're your children. You owe us that."

"We might even tell you a bit about ourselves," Ari interjected. Thornton sighed.

"Fine."

* * *

Thornton was sixteen when he met Morganna Davies. She was new, her parents both worked at Sacred Spleen Hospital and they owned a small bungalow near the center of town.

"Her parents don't have any money," Nick said to him. "They may work at the hospital, but they just clean bed pans or something like that, my father told me."

Thornton glared at Nick from his spot on the steps. The Altos were a relatively new family in town, and were seizing property faster than the Landgrabbs had during the past few years. "What makes you think I have any interest in her?"

"You were staring at her just now when she passed you on the stairs."

"So?" Before Nick had a chance to answer the question, the bell rang, signaling the start of first period.

It seemed as though as soon as he had stepped through the door, he saw her everywhere. She was in his first period French class, his second period Algebra class, his third period Economics class, and by the time that he saw her in his fourth period English class, he was beginning to question whether or not she had bribed the office into giving her the exact same schedule as him.

"I'm Morganna." Oh great, she was sitting in the seat next to him that had been empty for six months. Wonderful."

"Thornton."

"Your father is the Chairman of the Board at Doo Peas Towers."

"And?"

She paused for a moment, taken aback. "Sorry, you must get that a lot."

"I do."

"I just moved here, I was wondering if maybe you could show me around town? If it isn't too much trouble."

Hours later Thornton was trying to figure out what had made him say yes.


	2. Chapter 2

"That's it?" Theodore asked, raising an eyebrow. "You went on a walk together and lived happily ever after?"

Ari narrowed his eyes at his brother. "Theo, if they lived happily ever after, none of us would be here. Well, Melanie, still would," he said, jabbing at Melanie, who was glaring at both of them.

"Can you tell us more?" Melanie asked Thornton earnestly, trying to ignore her brothers.

Thornton nodded, swirling his cup of coffee around. He'd been trying to quit drinking since Deidre… "Sure," he sighed. "There's more."

Thornton had never paid much attention to the girls in his classes that were constantly fawning over him. After a date or two, most of them proved to be completely dull. They were constantly fluttering their eyelashes or squealing over the latest fad. Dull. Dull. Dull.

However, there was something different about Morganna that he couldn't quite figure out. She walked with confidence, and she didn't seem star struck. After she mentioned that his father was Chairman of the Board at Doo Peas Corporate Towers - she never mentioned it again. In fact, she didn't ask him anything about his family, instead, she told him about hers.

"I'm an only child. My mother and father are both focused on becoming world-renowned surgeons. They got a job offer here, so we moved. I was born in Bridgeport, though, so Sunset Valley is really different."

Thornton had been to Bridgeport several times with Nick. It was a busy city with bright lights. The Alto family owned a penthouse close to the center of the city. It was close to all of the clubs and restaurants.

They were silent for a few moments as they walked, before Thornton finally said, "I like Bridgeport. I sometimes think about living there some day."

It took Thornton a moment to notice that Morganna had stopped outside a bistro that was situated on the corner of Main Street. "We could go there for lunch," he suggested, but Morganna shook her head.

"Too expensive."

"Doesn't matter, my treat."

"I don't want to be a bother."

"Table for two, please," Thornton called to a waiter, who nodded, signaling that they should follow him to a small, round table in the center of the veranda. Morganna didn't have a chance to object as he grabbed her by the hand and tugged her along to the table that the waiter had set aside for them.

The waiter pulled out each of their chairs, before setting two menus on the table, and hurrying off to another table.

Thornton watched as Morganna's fingers ghosted over the silver lettering of Little Coriscan Bistro, and when she opened the menu, her jaw dropped slightly. "I can't let you—thirty simoleans on lunch?" but when she looked up from her menu at Thornton, she was met with a gaze that said that he wasn't going to back down.

"Okay, so you paid for her lunch. Big deal."

"Ari, can you please be quiet for five seconds so Dad can continue the story?"

"….Fine."

They managed to get back to school a few minutes before the bell rang for the start of fifth period. "I'm pretty sure I have AP Biology," Morganna said, double-checking her schedule as the two of them walked up the stairs to the school. There was something about her tone that made Thornton think she was wondering—hoping that they would be in the same class.

"I have Chemistry fifth period," he shrugged, "but maybe later I could—"

He didn't get a chance to finish his sentence before a girl in a green and white Llamas cheerleading uniform and long blonde hair latched onto him. "Thornton! You're never going to believe it! Sunset Valley Llamas won last week, so the whole team is going to Bridgeport! You should come. It would be really fun if you were there too."

Morganna stayed silent as the girl went on about a cheerleading competition, and how much she loved Bridgeport, and how she couldn't wait to go. Finally, Thornton pulled away, a small smile playing across his face. "Morganna, this is Jamie."

"Hello."

"You new?"

"How did you know?" Morganna asked, trying as hard as she could to sound interested in the conversation.

"Well, it's not that hard to tell. If you weren't new, I would have seen you around, and I'm sure Thornton would have mentioned you," Jamie explained. She let go of Thornton and glanced at her watch. "Shit, I have Bio soon. Completely forgot."

Almost on cue, the bell began to ring. Thornton spotted Nick waiting at the top of the stairs. "Jamie, do you think you could go with Morganna to Bio? Don't want to be late."

"Sure," Jamie said, flashing Thornton a toothy grin. As soon as Thornton started up the stairs, she turned to Morganna and said, "I have a feeling we're going to be good friends."

But only because Thornton was still within earshot.


End file.
